Sawt Falasteen - France tries Cambodian ex-PM's guards over 1997 massacre

Several grenades detonated on March 30, 1997 during an opposition rally of around 200 people in Phnom Penh denouncing state corruption. At least 16 people were killed and 150 injured.

Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister and leading opposition figure, was the target of the attack that NGO Human Rights Watch has called "an open wound in Cambodia". He was lightly injured.

The two main suspects, Hing Bun Heang, now 68, and Huy Piseth, 69, are being tried in absentia. Neither has asked for legal representation.

France in 2020 issued an arrest warrant for both men on suspicion of attempted murder, for which they could be sentenced to life in prison.

Rainsy, 76, who lives in exile in France and has French citizenship, in November 2000 filed a legal complaint over the incident, triggering the investigation.

Two decades later, the French judiciary came to the conclusion -- backed by findings from the United States' FBI and the United Nations, among others -- that Hing Bun Heang had recruited the attackers, and that Huy Piseth had facilitated their escape.

Despite the absence of the accused, Rainsy's lawyers Pierre-Olivier Sur and Jessica Finelle said that the trial was important.

"It's the first time that a judiciary, especially one that is independent and impartial, will examine the facts to allow the truth to emerge," they said.

- Knows 'nothing' -

Hing Bun Heang, who at the time of the attack headed the prime minister's personal security detail, told AFP last week that he knew "nothing" about the case, was not worried by the trial because he was not involved, and that he thought Rainsy was "deranged".

Hun Sen, a former army general who was Cambodia's longest-serving head of government, first became prime minister in 1985 aged 32.

He has been accused of voter fraud, human rights violations and corruption.

Activists also say he is guilty of press censorship and imprisoning political opponents.

He currently serves as president of Cambodia's Senate.

Rainsy -- a co-founder of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, once the principal opposition party -- was the main challenger to Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Cambodia, a former French protectorate, declared independence in 1953.

It was drawn into the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, and came under the rule of communist Khmer Rouge forces under strongman Pol Pot in the 1970s. It is now a constitutional monarchy, with Hun Sen's eldest son, Hun Manet, serving as prime minister.

Hing Bun Heang is currently a deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Huy Piseth is serving as a secretary of state at the Ministry of National Defence.

The verdict in the French trial is expected on Friday.

H.Darwish--SF-PST